Things that make you look twice

Any big city has its peculiarities and Bangkok is no exception. From elephants waddling down major roads to motorcycles with four adults slicing through traffic, this city has its fair share of odd but regular occurrences. Following are recent things that have made me look twice, laugh or otherwise scratch my head!

1. In a country that is 90% Buddhist, the site of a Catholic Nun walking down a major road pulling a moderate sized suitcase caught my eye. Not sure if she was off on holiday or fleeing a lonely priest.

2. The site of a person digging through trash bins is, sadly, a familiar site in most major cities. Thankfully, here in Bkk, that scenario isn’t usually someone digging for food scraps, rather, they are digging for recyclables that are then sold for money. Hence, the site of a man digging through a bin the other day didn’t strike me as odd until I realised he was wearing women’s shoes … with at least 4 inch heels!

3. While it’s common to see a pick-up truck with loads of people riding in the back, this practice is illegal on the expressways / motorways, even if the back of the truck is covered. One evening Kay and I pulled up to the toll booth behind a pick-up truck with a cover … and we saw a few faces hiding in there. So did the police that were standing by and they promptly approached the truck, asked the driver to get out and open the back of the truck. To our amazement, six adults (four elderly!) and two kids piled out of the back of that truck … and they then, somehow, all squeezed into the cab of the truck. Ok, it was an extended cab but there’s no way that cab had seats for all those people! Which begs the question, what is more dangerous, an overcrowded cab or allowing people to ride in the back of a covered truck? Hmmm!

PIG Heaven

During my years in the music business I met a lot of fun and interesting people; some of those people became real friends and didn’t disappear when I left the business and was no longer able to send them free CDs.

I moved to Bangkok ten years ago (10 May 1997) but I kept in touch with many of my radio and music industry friends via email. Of course, as the years have moved on, so have many of the folks I knew in the music biz, but there is one notable exception, my friends at KPIG radio.

KPIG remains one of my favourite stations; their eclectic mix of music, quirky ads and promotions and their down to earth DJs always make for an entertaining experience. Whenever I make it back to Northern California I try visit the ‘PIG.

On one visit, after living here in Thailand for a year or so, Program Director Laura Ellen Hopper dragged me into the studio and interviewed me on-air, encouraging me to say what I could in Thai (which was very little, I’m still trying to learn the language!). We had a laugh (as did the listeners judging by the phone calls that came into the station) and talked about repeating that exercise in a few years time when I could speak more Thai. It’s this blend of spur of the moment ideas put into action combined with a well thought out overall plan for music and programming that makes KPIG so unique.

The driving force behind all this creativity was Laura. She was like the KPIG mother, lovingly guiding and disciplining her ‘Piggies’ as needed while also fiercely protecting station & staff from corporate owners who didn’t understand the KPIG culture or the loyalty of their listeners. She led the ‘Piggies’ into battle time and time again and those efforts have helped to keep one of the most interesting radio stations on the planet up and running.

There was one battle, however, which many people didn’t know about, including myself. Laura was bravely and quietly fighting cancer while keeping the ‘PIG on the air. Sadly, this is the one battle that Laura couldn’t win; she died on Memorial Day morning.

To say that she’ll be missed is a rather large understatement. Her spirit will, hopefully, live on in the ‘PIG for generations to come.

Rest in peace Laura and Long Live the ‘PIG!

Floating Free

This past weekend we observed the 100th day anniversary of my father-in-law’s death; friends and family gathered at the temple on Friday evening for prayers; even Sandria, our two and a half year old niece, managed to put her hands together and ‘wai’ the monks. Saturday was the big day, lots of prayers and ceremonies that culminate with the cremation of the body.

Sunday morning, we (the immediate family) went to the temple to collect Dad’s remains. When we arrived, I could see the remains laid out on a white cloth; I had expected a pile of ashes but there were a fair number of bone fragments left and they were arranged to resemble a person, albeit a very small person after having been subject to the intense fire of the crematorium. Although I have attended other cremations in my ten years here in Thailand, this was the first time I had been through this part of the process. I was curious to get a closer look but, as I was in charge of Sandria, I opted to glance from a distance and not get too close; the last thing I wanted was to have to explain what we were looking at to Sandria.

I watched as the head monk led the family in another prayer/ceremony which included sprinkling some fresh flowers on top of Dad’s remains and then what I assume was ‘holy’ water. The white cloth was then gently lifted up, the four corners being pulled together to form what looked like a cloth sack. This ‘sack’ was then placed into the urn and given to Mom. While many Thai’s keep the bones / ashes in an urn at home or in a small memorial at the temple, some families, including my in-laws, opt for a more unique resting place for their deceased.

We left the temple, my mother-in-law gently holding the urn, and we were off on Dad’s final journey. After an hour’s drive we were at the coast, where the mighty Chao Phraya River flows into the Gulf of Siam. There is a large temple there that helps families send their deceased back to nature, set them free if you will. We weren’t the only people there that day to perform this ritual and the queue was long when we arrived. Thankfully, there were trees to shade us from the late morning sun and a constant breeze to keep us cool.

After hours of waiting, it was our turn to go out on the boat; an old fishing vessel converted into what is effectively a floating temple. We sailed down the Chao Phraya to where river and sea merge; it was peaceful, a refreshing wind in our faces and the sound of the boat’s motor humming along. It might have been a solemn journey as well but nothing is terribly solemn with Sandria and Tanggwa, her six year old 2nd cousin; the girls were cheerfully calling out to all the big ocean tankers and freighters we passed; the crew on those ships certainly couldn’t hear the little voices yelling out “bye bye” but they could see little hands waving and they probably saw the cute little smiles because the crews all waved and smiled back.

Once we reached our destination in the water, the boat’s captain expertly manoeuvred the boat into a reasonably stationary position; not an easy task given the volume of water flowing out to sea. The other man on the boat was much older, his leathery skin revealed faded Buddhists tattoos, his greying, receding hair swept back and his gentle smile revealed several missing teeth. I suspect he spent several years as a monk in his younger days, due to the aforementioned tattoos as well as the numerous Buddhist amulets around his neck.

This gentle, weathered old man moved gracefully and effortlessly around the boat as he prepared things for the final ceremony. Once he had everything in place, the family gathered around and he led the family in what I assume were Buddhist prayers; Sandria and I quietly watched … at least I wasn’t the only one who was clueless as to what was happening.

In the centre of all the family members, who were kneeling on the deck, was a golden coloured tray, on top of the tray the white cloth with Dad’s ashes / bones and the flowers that had been sprinkled in before we left the Bkk temple. Once the prayers / chanting were done, what I assume was sacred water was poured over Dad’s remains by the senior family members. Another prayer was said and then Kay had the honour of placing the remains in the water. The white cloth bobbed gently in the water as the current quickly took it away; Dad was now free and one with nature.

The irony of Dad’s final journey didn’t hit me until Sunday night; I was listening to and trying to follow what Dad’s elder sister was telling me and then it clicked. Dad and his siblings never learned to swim and Dad had never been on a boat; at least not that I’m aware of and certainly nothing small to medium sized. Hence, the nature lover that he was never got to appreciate marine nature … until his final journey. He’s now one with nature, one with the fish and most importantly, he’s floating free.

(Un)Happy New Year 2007

It's not that we are un-happy but 2007 certainly did not get off to a good start in Thailand. We are saddened by the violence and the loss of life in Bangkok; thankfully, we're safe and several hundred kilometers from the trouble. As I am writing this from an internet cafe with a really slow connection, I'll refrain from describing the beach paradise where we are currently resting, but I will post photos when we return home ... I will also return to email once home (3 Jan).

Until then, we hope you have had a good holiday season and wish you all the best for 2007!

Peace.

MR & Kay

End of an Era

Unlike most of my postings, this one isn’t full of sarcasm; it’s me reflecting back on recent events and, to an extent, it’s my attempt at a tribute to a man I never fully got to know.

The photo above is from our wedding and it remains one of my favourite photos of my father-in-law, Osot Nakngam, or, as the Thais would say, Dad. It may not look like he’s smiling, especially compared to my mother-in-law, but, to those of us who knew him, that’s a smile and he was genuinely happy that day. Why he didn’t have a big toothy smile is anyone’s guess; could be all the years working for the government or it could be he was simply uncomfortable showing a big smile.

After nearly ten years in Thailand, I’m ashamed to say I still have not mastered the language. It’s not actually that hard, I was just busy, lazy and often around Thai’s who could speak English, hence, I lacked a true motivation to learn. That all changed a few months ago … the lack of motivation that is.

Somewhere near the end of August Dad was diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. As I witnessed his health quickly deteriorate, I realised that he and I had never really had a proper conversation. The closest thing to an engaging conversation was in China several years ago; I was translating between a waiter who was speaking rudimentary English and then using my equally limited Thai skills to converse with Dad. It was comical to say the least.

Fast forward to Sep 2006, I’m sitting beside Dad’s hospital bed and my Thai is no better than that humorous evening back in China. Knowing that cancer patients can go quickly or last much longer than expected, I enrolled in a Thai class with the determination to get over the language hump and maybe be able to have a conversation with Dad. Now, I didn’t expect to be discussing “War and Peace” with my father-in-law within a few months time but I figured any progress I made was worthwhile, both short term and long term.

And I was right; the newly acquired language skills came in handy during my daily visits to hospital. While I never did get to have a real conversation with Dad (without a translator), at least I understood some of his requests and was able to assist him with small things during his final months … and every now and again I’d catch him smiling as I struggled through some of my homework with Kay.

My favourite smile story, however, is from just a few weeks ago. I had been at hospital for a few hours when Kay arrived; the nursemaid slipped outside to update Kay on the day’s events. As it was around 9pm, Dad was ready to sleep … and he wasn’t shy about saying he was ready to sleep. I was sitting next to the bed, holding his hand and I assured him it was ok for him to sleep. But that wasn’t good enough for Dad, if he was going to sleep, I should be going to sleep too. He mustered up enough strength to move himself over in the bed and then motioned for me to lie down next to him.

Even though I wasn’t tired, I figured what the hell, if it makes Dad happy and he goes to sleep, then it’s worth the effort to pretend I’m tired. I lowered the bed rail, kicked off my shoes, got on the bed and put my arm around Dad … I saw a big smile and shortly after that heard him snoring.

Kay and the nursemaid re-entered the room and were literally biting their tongues trying not to laugh at me balanced on the edge of the bed. Kay got close enough for me to whisper an explanation; she had a huge smile and tears welled up in her eyes. Within a few minutes we figured out how to extract me from the bed and slip Kay in … of course Dad woke up during that process but he was equally happy having his daughter hugging him and quickly fell back to sleep.

That was the last time any of us were able to give him a proper hug, from the next day he had tubes and IV’s that prevented us from getting into bed with him. It’s also when his mind started to lose focus, probably due to the medications. But he still recognized us right up to the end; he would always at least nod when we announced our selves and, on Father’s Day (5 Dec), he acknowledged my pledge to look after Kay & Mom once he was gone. A few hours later, he slipped into a coma; Mom, Kay, the nursemaid and myself at his bedside.

Dad died peacefully in his sleep today, 6 Dec, just after 12 noon. He’s at peace now and I know he’s happy, every now and again I can see his smile as I continue to fumble my way through the Thai language.

Planes, Sprains & Automobiles

There has been considerable talk (ok, complaints) in the local press about the new airport here in Bkk so I figured I’d chime in with my two cents worth now that I’ve been there. Upon arrival at Suvarnabhumi (pronounced: Sue-wan-a-boom) I felt as if I had detoured and gone to Hong Kong (HK), the design and feel is quite similar.

Within 36 hours I had come and gone from our much touted new facility and I didn’t have any major problems. More signage would be useful, especially for arriving passengers trying to find taxis, and the toilets are certainly smaller than those at old Don Muang, but otherwise I had no real operational issues. Several friends have come in on international flights and said that immigration was much faster than at the old airport, so, it seems the teething problems are starting to ease. From a design standpoint, I’d say Suvarnabhumi is a bit drab inside; it lacks the character of the old Don Muang. Maybe that will change in time.

Two weeks ago I was playing ultimate, just a casual pick-up game, and I twisted (sprained) my ankle in a big way. By the time I was helped to the side of the pitch and got my boots off, my ankle was the size of a guava … or a softball for those not up on your tropical fruits. While gimping about is no fun, having to stay off my ankle for several days allowed me to catch up on some reading and practice my Thai language skills; at least I can now tell the locals what I did to my ankle; ผลาง (not sure that’s spelled right but my Thai friend’s should figure it out!).

As for the last topic, most of you know by now that Kay and I bought a new car back in June (see photo). In Thailand, new cars leave the dealer with red plates which are temporary. Your white (permanent) plates usually come within a month or so. Given it’s now Nov, Kay and I were wondering what the heck was going on, we still had red plates (though they did match our red car quite nicely). The first mistake we made was not listening to one of Kay’s Aunties who said we should play our number plate’s numbers in the lotto; had we followed that advice we’d be THB 70 million richer right now. Sigh. Anyhow, the other mistake we made was not leaning on the dealer harder to get our white plates in a timely manner.

Last Sat, Kay was heading home when the police pulled her over; she was irritated as she knew she had not done anything wrong. The officer politely informed her that her violation was driving with fake red plates. WHAT? Yep, he calmly pointed out how he knew they were fake and now Kay was seeing RED! And while the cop thought he was in for a good verbal lashing and argument, he and his colleagues were pleasantly surprised when Kay insisted the ticket be written out for the maximum penalty and then she got on the phone to the dealership and raised holy hell. Needless to say, the dealership sent people down with the ticket money as well as our white plates that had been sitting there for a week … but no one called to tell us.

The police now want to hire Kay when they need a public speaker and the Mazda dealership staff are all sh**ing themselves every time Kay calls. Wait until Mazda Japan receives her angry letter! Ah yes, the wrath of my wife; only a fool would invoke it willingly.

Miracles do happen!

Two events this past week prove that miracles can happen; I finished uploading all the wedding pictures (1 year, 10 months) and Thailand’s long anticipated new airport finally opened (44 years in the making). So, comparatively, I’d say I was pretty quick on the photo uploading!

The pix can be viewed by clicking on Michael & Kay pix which is in the right hand column under ‘Links’.

News about the airport, Suvarnabhumi (pronounced: Sue-wan-a-boom, which means expensive new airport!) can probably be found on all the major news websites but, to summarize what I’ve read locally, it’s a beautiful facility that probably shouldn’t have opened for another month or two.

A friend who works in the construction industry flew out of Suvarnabhumi on Sat and had this to say:

“Check in was painless, immigration was as bad as ever (i.e. slow), you have to navigate through all the (duty free) shops to find the departure gates and the public arrivals area … what a disaster.”

He went on to say: “… they will have to rip out some stuff to improve the arrivals area … the architect should be shot … and because it’s a glass facade, the place is a maintenance nightmare!”

With any luck, those ‘teething’ problems at Suvarnabhumi will be worked out in time for the tourist high season (starts in November) and I’ll accomplish another milestone and have the wedding video finished before our 2nd anniversary.

Yes, both of those are rather improbable but one has to have hope!

News of the Week

Sunday saw two new ‘winners’ in Thailand, one on the tennis courts and one who will help to oversee the creation of a new constitutional court.

With King Roger (Federer) not returning to defend his two back to back Thai tittles at the ATP Thailand Open, many of the men’s top players flocked to Thailand with hopes of picking up some late season points not to mention a little cash and the opportunity to enjoy some Thai hospitality.

The final was a battle of the top seeds; Ivan Ljubicic and James Blake, the latter being the underdog as he had lost all four previous meetings with big Ivan. So one would expect a tough fought battle on court but, in just under an hour, Blake managed to prove he is a rising power in men’s tennis; he beat Ljubicic 6-3, 6-1 and he did so without smashing any racquets (unlike the hot headed Safin who crashed out in the semi’s … at the hands of Blake).

The other winner on Sunday was Thailand as a whole; the coup leaders made good on their promise to appoint a new civilian PM within two weeks of the coup and they did so with time to spare. Our new PM is K. Surayud Chulanont, a retired general who was pushed towards his retirement by Thaksin several years ago; Thaksin apparently believed K. Surayud was PM material and didn’t want competition. From everything I’ve read about our new PM, he’s a man of integrity, tact, effective management and (apparently) has a disdain for corruption. Time will tell but I’m cautiously optimistic!